brevoort



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet L.

H. L. BREVOORT & I. L. ROBERTS.

SEPARAT-ING PARTITION FOR GALVANIO BATTERIES.

No. 394,638. Patented Dec. 18", 1888-.

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w w WW 0(\ N. PETERS PfmlbLiI-Ymgnp'wf, Wuhlllglun. I1 (1 (No Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet 2'. H. L. BREVOORT & I. L. ROBERTS. SEPARATING PARTITIONFOR GALVANIG BATTERIES.

Patented Dec. 18 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY L. BREVOORT ANT) ISAIAH L. ROBERTS, Ol BROOKLYN, ASSIGITORS TO THEROBERTS-BREVOORT ELECTRIC COMPANY, (LIMITED) OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

SEPARATlNG-PARTITION FOR GALVANIC BATTERIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,638, dated December18, 1888.

Application filed May 1, 1886. Serial No. 200,847. 1N0 specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.- fow hours, or perhaps in a day, a largepor- Be it known that we, HENRY L. HREVOORT tion of the sulphate ofcopper will have inter and ISAIAH L. ROBERTS, citizens of the Unitedmixed with the sulphate of zinc, and a large States, and residents ofthe city of Brooklyn, portion of the sulphate of zinc will have passed 5county of Kings, State of New York, have inthrough the porous cup intothe sulphate-0t 55 vented certain Improvements in Galvaniccoppersectiou. This intermixing of the fluids Batteries, of which thefollowing is a specifiwill of course ruin thcbattery by occasioningcation. local action."

Heretofore,w11e1-e it has been desired to use e make the diaphragm orpartition of the two different liquids in the cells of a galvanicbattery of a material which is practically non- 6o battery, porouspartitions of earthenware have porous, but with electrolytic properties,so been employed to separate the liquids from that whether the batterybe on an open cireach other. To accomplish the separation cuit or closedthe liquid, as such, on one side only, a non-porous partition would havebeen of the partition will not intermix orintermini 5 preferable; butsuch a partition would have gle with the liquid on the other side of the65 been useless, because it would have cut off partition, or only to avery limited extent; the electrolytic liquids or solutions from conbutwhen the circuit is closed and the battery tact with each other. Thiscontact has hereis called upon to give a current of electricity toforebeen secured by having the partition chemical action can and will takeplace porous, so that the liquids penetrating the through the partition.7o pores of the partition could form lines or In carrying out ourinvention we construct chains of electrolytic molecules, through thepartition or diaphragm either partially or which the electrolytic actionor energy could wholly of a gelatinous or jelly-like material betransmitted. The solid portion of the porwhich is non porous, but whichcontains ous partition of course offers an absolute remoisture as one ofits characteristicelements. 75 sistance to the transfer of electricaction,which Thus the partition may be made of starch, is transmittedsolely by the electrolysis of the preferably boiled in a strong brine ofsome liquid or liquids held in the pores. To reduce salt of analkalisuch as chloride of sodium the total resistance of the partition,it was or a salt of zincand the gelatinous or jellytherefore desirableor necessary to have its like mass so produced may be confined be- 80porosity very great. Any porous body will, tween walls of cloth or othersuitable materialhowever, allow or even promote the transto form thediaphragm or partition of the batfusion of liquids through it, andtherefore tery-cell. Instead of the starch we may use such transfusionalways took place where porboiled floursay rice-flour, wheat-flour, or,in

ous partitions were used and was a necessary in fact, the gelatinoussubstance obtained 85 though undesirable result of their constitufromany grain or plant. The materials which I tion and mode of action. Inother words, the are the least soluble are to be preferred. The porouspartition was itself impotent as a partition may also be made, but notto such means of transmitting the electric force, and great advantage,of dough of flour and water,

only acted as a frame-work to hold the mole- Which may be left unboiledand may be con- 90 cules of the electrolyticliquid or liquidswhich finedbetween the sustaining-walls. The transmitted the electric force bytheir sucthickness of the gelatinous or jelly-like mass cessivedecompositions and recombinations. forming the partition should beanywhere The electrolytic liquids, however, by reason from a quarter ofan inch upward, varying 5 of theirliquid character, tended to diffuseand with the size of the battery used, though 5 mingle, and thistendency was restrained by it may be of more or less thickness. The theporous body only to alimited degree. To gelatinous material may beintroduced into illustrate this: If. a solution of sulphate of athickness of cloth or felt by being caused copper be placed outside anordinary porous to enter and close the pores thereof to form cup andsulphate of zinc on the inside, in a the non-porous partition, and inthis case too Itis intended to usein this battery sulphatethe tworetaining-walls of cloth would not stantially-solid homogeneous wallwhose particles, while sut'ficiently solid and compact to maintain theirown positions and so prevent for practical purposes any transmission offluids through them, are yet themselves able to act as electrolytes andsuffer such decompositions and recombinations as are essential to theelectrolytic transmission of electric force. In other words, we have inour partition combined in the one substance the solid properties of theearthenware and the electrolytic properties of the liquid, or we may saythat we have made the electrolytes solid and the partition electrolytic.

In an application for a patent filed by us on the 14th of May, 1886,Serial No.'202,198, we have described and claimed another means forcarrying out our present invention by the use of gelatinous orjelly-like substances obtained from albuminous material; and in anotherapplication for patent filed by Isaiah L. Roberts on the 5th of May,1887, Serial No. 237,259, he has described another means for carryingout thepresent invention by the use of mineral gelatinous substances,while in still anothenapplication filed by said Roberts May 28, 1887,under Serial No. 239,679, he has described how the diaphragms may bemade by the use of a gelatinous or jelly-like substance obtained .byrendering a saponified material insoluble.

When the jelly-like or gelatinous mass is held between walls, it isadvantageous to stir up with it a filamentous binding material, such ashair, fur, asbestus, fibers, or cotton.

This binding material. is best added when the mass is being boiled.Enough of this should be nsed to bind the material together and avoidcracks and the like in drying. One pound of starch and six pounds ofwater, two pounds of chloride of sodium, and two ounces of cotton-fibermay be stirred and boiled together until cooked with satisfactoryresults. (lookingis accomplished when the starchgranules are broken. \Vemay boil with the starch the salt which is to form the basis of the.solution on the zinc side of the battery. Thus,xif the sulphate ofcopper is added on one side and the sulphate of zinc-on the other sidewe may boil with the starch a solution of sulphate of zinc. If sulphateof copper is usedon one side and chloride of sodium on r the other, we.prefer to boil with the substance to form. the-partition chloride ofsodium; but to thesewe do not limit ourselves in anyway, as sulphate ofzinc would do in the majority of cases, though we prefer chloride ofsodium.

of .copper. and a plate. of copper on one side and sulphate of zinc 0nthe other of the partition; but other materials may be used. eak acidscan also be used on either side to increase the conductivity of the.solution or as an excitant.

' The accompan ying drawings show, as an example, one mode of carryingout our invention.

Figure 1. a plan of a cell complete. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on theline :r :r, Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken at rightangles to Fig. 2.

sides facing each other, and the space between the canvas sides iscompletely filled, as'atD, with any one of the materials hereinindicated, such as a mixtureof boiled starch and cotton-fiber, forinstance. Care must be taken not to leave any empty spaces between thecanvas, so as to positivelyprevent leakage or transfusion of the'liquidsused in the cell.-

lVhen the cell and, of course, the frame B are of. considerable size, weprefer to introduce the intermediate cross-bars, b,which form a supportfor the canvas to prevent it from bulging outward when gelatinous orjelly-like material is being filled in or at any subse quent period.

lVe wish it to be understood that we do not limit ourselves, however, tothe form of supports shown, as other constructions may be used, and forsmall cells supports may be dispensed with.

e do not herein claim, broadly, an electric battery provided with apartition practically non-porous'and adapted to keep separate thebattery-liquids, but which will permit elec' trolytic action through it,or, broadly, a partition for an electric battery which is practicallynon-porous and adapted to separate the battery-liquids, but throughwhich chemical action may take place, because we have made claim to suchbroad subject-matter in an application just filed, Serial No. 280,955,dated. July 25, 1888, which is a division ofthis.

\Ve claim as our invention- 1. A separating diaphragm or partition foran electric battery, composed of a jelly-like or gelatinous material. I

- 2. A separating partition or diaphragm for an'electric battery, havingits pores closed by gelatinous material.

-3. A;t \.*o-fiuid electric battery havingaseparatingdiaphragmorpartition of gelatinous or elly likejmaterialobtained from vegetable" growths.

4. A separating diaphragm or partition for. an electric battery,composed partially or Wholly of gelatinous material, combined with asalt, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. A separating diaphragm or partition for an electric battery, havingits pores closed by a gelatinous material containing salt, substantiallyas described.

6. In an electric battery, a separating diaphragm or partition ofgelatinous or jellylike material, combined with supporting devices,substantially as described.

7. In an electric battery, a separating dia phragm or partition ofgelatinous material, combined with a supporting sheet or sheets oftextile material.

8. In an electric battery, a separating diaphragm or partition ofgelatinous material

